METAL/NONMETAL MINE FATALITY - On March 29, 1999, a 61-year-old equipment operator with 26 years mining experience was fatally injured at a cement plant quarry. The victim was digging mud from a seam with an excavator when a rock fell from the face, struck the boom and continued through the cab windshield, fatally injuring him.

Best Practices

Persons experienced in identifying loose ground should examine highwalls in the vicinity where work is to be performed, prior to the work commencing, after blasting, and as conditions warrant throughout the shift.

Ground conditions that create a hazard to persons should be taken down or supported before other work or travel is permitted in the affected area.

This is the 13th fatality reported in calendar year 1999 in the metal and nonmetal mining industries. As of this date in 1998, there were 14 fatalities reported in these industries. This is the third fatality classified as Machinery in 1999. There were two Machinery fatalities in the same period in 1998.